The Linguasphere Observatory (or "the Observatoire", based on its original French and legal title: ''Observatoire Linguistique'') is a non-profit transnational
research network
Scientific collaboration network is a social network where nodes are scientists and links are co-authorships as the latter is one of the most well documented forms of scientific collaboration. It is an undirected, scale-free network where the deg ...
, devoted (alongside related programs) to the gathering, study, classification, editing and free distribution online of the updatable text (initially in English) of a fully indexed and comprehensive ''Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities.''
History
The Observatoire was created in
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
in 1983 and was subsequently established and registered in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
as a non-profit association under the honorary presidency of the late
Léopold Sédar Senghor
Léopold Sédar Senghor (; ; 9 October 1906 – 20 December 2001) was a Senegalese poet, politician and cultural theorist who was the first president of Senegal (1960–80).
Ideologically an African socialist, he was the major theoretician o ...
, a French-language poet and the first president of
Senegal
Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 ...
. Its founding director is David Dalby, former director of the
International African Institute
The International African Institute (IAI) was founded (as the International Institute of African Languages and Cultures - IIALC) in 1926 in London for the study of African languages. Frederick Lugard was the first chairman (1926 to his death in 194 ...
and emeritus reader in the University of London, and its first research secretary was Philippe Blanchet, a Provençal-language poet currently serving as Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Rennes. Since 2010, the deputy director and webmaster of the Observatoire has been Pierrick le Feuvre, with the chairman of its research council being Roland Breton, emeritus professor at the University of Paris VIII. The Observatoire's research hub is currently based in the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales and, in the European Union, in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, France. Its title in
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, referring or related to Wales
* Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales
* Welsh people
People
* Welsh (surname)
* Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...
is Wylfa Ieithoedd, literally the "Observatory (of) languages", together with its publishing program (in Cymraeg or "Welsh" = cy. Gwasg y Byd Iaith, i.e. "Press (of) the World (of) Language").
The Observatoire has developed an innovative scheme of
philological
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as t ...
classification, coding all living and recorded languages within a global referential framework or "linguascale". This Linguascale Framework uses a decimal structure (see below) to record both genetic and geographic categories of relationship (termed ''phylozones'' and ''geozones'', respectively).
In 1999/2000, the Observatoire published its first 2-volume ''Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages and Speech Communities''. Reviews were published by
Edward J. Vajda
Edward J. Vajda (Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, September 10, 1958 as Edward M. Johnson; changed his name in 1981) is a historical linguist at Western Washington University.
He is known for his work on the proposed Dené–Yeniseian language fam ...
in ''Language'' and by Anthony P. Grant in ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society''.
The Observatoire has now prepared a revised edition of the Linguasphere Register from 2010, the first of a projected series of regular updates at 10-year intervals. The current editio
(LS-2010) comprising substantial materials from the foundation edition of 2000, is published online from 2011 as a freely available public resource and an online data-base, compiled and co-ordinated by David Dalby and Pierrick le Feuvre. Provision is made for the online gathering of additional and improved data, and for the open discussion of proposals and criticisms.
From 2001 until December 2005, the Linguasphere Observatory was actively involved in collaboration with the British Standards Institution
BSI Group
The British Standards Institution (BSI) is the national standards body of the United Kingdom. BSI produces technical standards on a wide range of products and services and also supplies certification and standards-related services to business ...
and with
ISO/TC 37in the design and development of a four-letter (alpha-4) code covering—potentially—every recorded language variety in the world. The Observatoire was not, however, associated with or responsible for the final
ISO 639-6
ISO 639-6, ''Codes for the representation of names of languages — Part 6: Alpha-4 code for comprehensive coverage of language variants'', was a proposed international standard in the ISO 639 series, developed bISO/TC 37/SC 2(International Organiz ...
standard which was a partial result of this collaboration, approved and published by ISO in 2009. It is the policy of the Observatoire that its on-going independent work on language coding should also be complementary to and supportive of the ISO 639 international standards,
The Observatoire expresses its praise and gratitude to the parallel pioneering work of Barbara Grimes, with her husband Joseph, in her position - based in Hawaii until her retirement from 1996 - as the creative Editor of the Summer Institute of Linguistics' ''Ethnologue: Languages of the World.''
The Linguasphere Register and Linguascale referential framework
The ''Linguascale'' framework is a referential system covering all languages, as published in the ''Linguasphere Register'' in 2000 and subsequently refined in 2010. It comprises a flexible coding formula which seeks to situate each language and dialect within the totality of the world's living and recorded languages, having regard to ongoing linguistic research.
The first part of this linguascale is the
decimal
The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral ...
classification referred to above, consisting of a ''linguasphere key'' of two numerals denoting the relevant phylozone or geozone: from
00
. to
99
. This provides a systematic numerical key for the initial classification of any of the world's languages, following the principles set out in the ''Linguasphere Register''. The first numeral of the key represents one of the ten referential ''sectors'' into which the world's languages are initially divided. The sector can either be a ''phylosector'', in which the constituent languages are considered to be in a diachronic relationship one with another, or a ''geosector'', in which languages are grouped geographically rather than historically.
The second numeral is used to represent the ten ''zones'' into which each geosector is divided for referential purposes. The component zones, like the sectors, are described as either ''phylozones'' or ''geozones'', based on the nature of the relationship among their constituent languages: either historical or geographical.
The second part of the linguascale consists of three capital letters (majuscules): from
-AAA-
to
-ZZZ-
. Each zone is divided into one or more ''sets'', with each set being represented by the first majuscule of this three-letter (alpha-3) component. Each set is divided into one or more ''chains'' (represented by the second majuscule) and each chain is into one or more ''nets'' (represented by the third majuscule). The division of the languages of a zone into sets, chains and nets is based on relative degrees of linguistic proximity, as measured in principle by approximate proportions of shared basic vocabulary. Geozones are on average divided into more sets than phylozones because relationships among languages within the latter are by definition more obvious and much closer.
The third and final part of the linguascale consists of up to three lowercase letters (minuscules), used to identify a language or dialect with precision: from
aaa
to
zzz
. The first letter of this sequence represents an ''outer unit'' (preferred from 2010 to the original term of "outer language", to avoid the shifting and often emotive applications of the terms "language" and "dialect"). The ''inner units'' and
language varieties
In sociolinguistics, a variety, also called an isolect or lect, is a specific form of a language or language cluster. This may include languages, dialects, registers, styles, or other forms of language, as well as a standard variety.Meecham, Ma ...
that may comprise any outer unit are coded using a second, and wherever necessary a third minuscule letter.
Examples
The application of the linguascale may be illustrated with the concrete examples below, chosen from within the
English language
English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the is ...
.
For example,
* The code covering all forms of English is
52-ABA
, where
5=
represents the
Indo-European phylosector,
52=
represents the
Germanic phylozone,
52-A
represents the ''Norsk+ Frysk set'' (a compound-name chosen to cover the contents of the Germanic phylozone),
52-AB
represents the ''English+ Anglo-Creole chain'', and
52-ABA
is the ''English net''. Within this net, the outer units are:
**
52-ABA-a
–
Scots+ Northumbrian.
**
52-ABA-b
– "Anglo-English" (the traditional localised varieties of southern Great Britain and also Ireland).
**
52-ABA-c
– Global English (varieties of modern English as spoken and written around the world).
* Some more specific examples of English varieties are:
**
52-ABA-abb
is the
Geordie traditional variety: belonging to
52-ABA-a
Scots+ Northumbrian outer language, and
52-ABA-ab
Northumbrian.
**
52-ABA-bco
is the
Norfolk
Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
traditional variety: belonging to
52-ABA-b
"Anglo-English" outer unit, and specifically to
52-ABA-bc
Southern (British) traditional English.
**
52-ABA-cof
covers the range of (non-creolised) Nigerian English : belonging to
52-ABA-c
Global English outer unit, and
52-ABA-co
West-African English. Nigerian English is thus distinguished from the often overlapping
52-ABB-bf
Enpi (or "NP", from the abbreviation of so-called "Nigerian Pijin"): belonging to
52-ABB
Anglo-Creole net, and
52-ABB-b
Wes-kos (West Coast Anglo-Creole).
Languages of London
A practical application of the ''Linguasphere Register'' and its linguascale in the study of a complex urban linguistic environment has been as the referential framework for successive surveys of over 200 languages other than English spoken by plurilingual children at state schools in London (representing just under 40% of the total number of children attending), as edited in 2000 by Baker and Eversley and in 2010 by Eversley et al.
See also
* Language code with tabulated example of coding systems (for English and Spanish), including ISO 639 and Linguasphere.
“Langues de la Liberté/Languages of Liberty”
In Paris, from 1987, the Observatoire linguistique created a bilingual exhibition ''Langues de la Liberté / Languages of Liberty'', tracing the transnational development of certain basic concepts of personal freedom through the interaction of English and French, rather than by the action of any one nation. At the outset of a series of 34 illustrated tryptychs, attention was drawn to the historical role of other transnational languages in the development of such concepts, including Greek and German.
[The bilingual texts of the exhibition's tryptychs are presented in: David Dalby, ''Le français et l'anglais : Langues de la Liberté'', Observatoire linguistique: Cressenville 1989 .]
The exhibition was sponsored by the government of a bilingual nation, Canada, by the international
francophone Agence (ACCT) and by the region of
Haute-Normandie
Upper Normandy (french: Haute-Normandie, ; nrf, Ĥâote-Normaundie) is a former administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, Upper and Lower Normandy merged becoming one region called Normandy.
History
It was created in 1956 from two ...
. It was inaugurated in Paris at the
Centre Georges Pompidou on 6 June 1989, and presented there throughout the summer of 1989 as the official Canadian contribution to the bicentenary celebrations of the French Revolution.
At the subsequent presentation of this bilingual exhibition at the Hôtel de Région in Rouen (Haute-Normandie), from 23 September to 21 October 1989, the Observatoire linguistique organised the first public display of the only surviving contemporary copy of the vernacular (and arguably pre-Latin) text of England's ''
Magna Carta
(Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...
'', written in 13th century French.
Thanks to continued support from Canada, the exhibition was subsequently presented by the Observatoire in Belgium and England, at the Palais des Congrès in
Liège and at the
Commonwealth Institute
The Commonwealth Education Trust is a registered charity established in 2007 as the successor trust to the Commonwealth Institute. The trust focuses on primary and secondary education and the training of teachers and invests on educational pro ...
in London in 1990, and finally in Australia, at
Old Parliament House, Canberra
Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 after Parliament's relocation from Melbourne to the new capit ...
in May 1991.
In the context of the need to design a plurilingual framework of ethics for a future planetary society, the Observatoire has announced its intention to return to the transnational theme of ''Magna Carta'' in 2015, on the occasion of the 8th centenary of the signing of its formal Latin version at
Runnymede
Runnymede is a water-meadow alongside the River Thames in the English county of Surrey, and just over west of central London. It is notable for its association with the sealing of Magna Carta, and as a consequence is, with its adjoining ...
in 2020.
“In the galaxy of languages, each person’s voice is a star”
The motto of the Observatoire linguistique dates from 1990—in French: ''Dans la galaxie des langues, la voix de chaque personne est une étoile'' (translated into English as above).
The Observatoire adopted these words as its guiding philosophy on the occasion of the first series of debates organised by the Observatoire linguistique in 1990–1991, at
Fleury-sur-Andelle
Fleury-sur-Andelle (; nrf, Flleury-sus-Aundelle) is a commune in the Eure department, in the region of Normandy, northern France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It al ...
in Haute-Normandie, at
Maillane
Maillane (; oc, Malhana) is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France in the former province of Provence.
Geography
Maillane is located north-west of Saint-Rémy-de-Provence and north-east of Tarascon.
Population
...
in Provence and at
Huy
Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...
in Wallonie, sponsored by each of the relevant regions, on the subject of ''Nos langues et l'unité de l'Europe'' ("Our languages and the unity of Europe"). The guest of honour at the first of these debates was
André Martinet (1908–1999), doyen of trans-Atlantic linguistics.
From the year 2000
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
adopted and adapted the Observatoire's motto in the form: "In the galaxy of languages, each word is a star".
See also
*
Ethnologue
''Ethnologue: Languages of the World'' (stylized as ''Ethnoloɠue'') is an annual reference publication in print and online that provides statistics and other information on the living languages of the world. It is the world's most comprehensiv ...
*
Language observatory
References
External links
* From May 2011, https://web.archive.org/web/20120614005015/http://www.linguasphere.info/ provides free online access to the current research & reference materials of the Observatoire linguistique /Linguasphere Observatory, including the complete Linguascale coding of the world's languages (LS-2010, totalling over 32,800 coded entries & over 70,900 linguistic names) and the contents of the original ''Linguasphere Register of the World's Languages & Speech Communities'' (LS-2000).
* http://www.hortensj-garden.org/index.php?tnc=1&tr=lsr
{{Authority control
Linguistics organizations
Organizations established in 1983